Norita Boynton holds a protest sign near the Portland Transportation Center on Friday night while waiting to board a bus bound for Washington, D.C., for Saturday’s Women’s March. Tara LaFreiere, left, is a volunteer organizer.
Thirty years ago, Amy Cousins marched in support of women’s reproductive rights in Washington. At the time, she and other marchers hung wire coat hangers on the fence outside of the White House to highlight the need for safe access to abortion.
On Friday night, the 62-year-old Old Orchard Beach resident was among dozens of women waiting to board a fleet of charter buses in Portland to make the 11-hour trip to the nation’s capital to join the Women’s March on Washington, an event aimed at highlighting women’s rights.
“It’s frustrating we’re having to go back and fight this fight,” said Cousins, who is recovering from a hip replacement surgery. She leaned on a crutch and was bringing a wheelchair. “We’ve come so far and there’s so much at stake. We can’t go back.”
Saturday’s march is in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump as America’s 45th president. Trump won the presidency despite losing the popular vote by roughly 3 million votes and making rude remarks about women, including a statement about being able to grab their genitalia without their consent.
His vice president, Mike Pence, is considered an enemy of women’s reproductive rights, with a longstanding goal to defund Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit health clinic that provides a range of health care services for women, a small fraction of which include non-federally funded abortions.
Group organizer Judy Gove talks to other protesters as they wait to board a bus Friday night for the Women’s March on Washington.
The election has prompted women, as well as other groups concerned about a rollback in their rights, to organize.
The Women’s March on Washington was launched by a Hawaiian grandmother on her Facebook page the day after the Nov. 8 election. About 200,000 marchers are expected, according to estimates this week by organizers of the grassroots, peaceful demonstration.
“Sister marches” are being held Saturday in Maine in Augusta, Brunswick, Eastport, Kennebunk, Portland, Sanford, Surry and Vinalhaven, according to the Women’s March on Washington’s website.
The Women’s Walk Portland is meeting at the Obelisk Memorial on the Eastern Promenade at 10:30 a.m. and marching from there to Congress Square Park. The Women’s March on Washington Solidarity Vigil in Brunswick is being held from 10-11 a.m. on the Town Mall.
Many of the women waiting to board buses Friday night at Thompson’s Point were wearing Pussyhats, winter hats made out of pink yarn that have become a national symbol of protest against Trump’s comments about women.
More than 200 women were expected to board a half-dozen buses in Portland, according to Judy Gove, a volunteer organizer.
Norita Boynton, a 28-year-old Portland resident who works two jobs, showed off a sign she made out of a pizza box. It featured a picture of Princess Leia, the “Star Wars” character played by the late Carrie Fisher who became a feminist icon for leading the rebellion against the empire. The sign contained a message: “A woman’s place is in the resistance.”
Group organizer Tara LaFreniere relays information to fellow protesters while waiting to board buses bound for Washington, D.C.
Women interviewed in Portland emphasized that the march was not a protest – but rather a show of support and solidarity for basic human rights, such as health care, reproductive rights, immigrant rights or voting rights.
Several women said they didn’t even bother to watch Trump’s inaugural address on Friday.
“Watching it only normalizes and legitimizes what is not a normal or legitimate event or president,” said Anna Walker, a 67-year-old Southwest Harbor resident. “I think he’s frightening.”
Others simply loathe the man.
“I have a great deal of difficulty with him as a personality and a president,” said Lee Thompson, a 65-year-old retired psychotherapist who lives in South Portland. “If we don’t stand up and make some noise, we’re going to be second-class citizens again.”
Melissa Gilbert of Portland said she watched Trump’s speech, even though she’s disgusted by his comments, which trivialized sexual assault on women. The 51-year-old small-business owner didn’t like what she saw and heard during Friday’s inauguration.
“It was as if it was from a movie – it didn’t seem real,” Gilbert said, comparing it to Nazi Germany. “It was all about putting nationalism first. It wasn’t about putting people first.”
There were several younger women headed to Washington, including three students from the Maine Girls Academy in Portland. One of them was Gilbert’s 15-year-old daughter.
“Our president and a good portion of our population apparently think sexual assault is OK and I’m here to show it’s not,” Kelly Gilbert said. Her friend Liz MacAleney, 16, of Cumberland felt the same way. She said she cried when she learned that Trump won the election. Now she wants to turn that sadness into something more constructive.
“We can’t be silent,” McAleney said.
Randy Billings can be contacted at 791-6346 or at:
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